


How We Survive Is What Makes Us Who We Are-Survive

by hmeihmeh



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Death, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 11:13:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7100818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hmeihmeh/pseuds/hmeihmeh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico di Angelo made a promise. But sometimes words just aren't enough. </p><p>"The agony of not telling anybody, the scorching burn of alcohol, the pain and the pleasure that was so entirely human"</p><p>" He felt it a month ago, Will's life force dimming. Slowly.... so agonizing. There was no way he could stop it, it was too painful. And he knew it was his fault. He wasn't good enough Will Solace. Will couldn't heal him and he couldn't heal Will. They were both shattered from the inside out and there was absolutely nothing that Nico could do but step away. They just broke each other more. And maybe if he hadn't been lost he would have felt Will slipping, slipping away."</p><p>"And the silver skull ring slipped to the ground, and fell with an echoing crash"</p><p>Companion and posted as chapter two to Survive. Can be read independently</p>
            </blockquote>





	How We Survive Is What Makes Us Who We Are-Survive

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rick Riordan. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

This is a companion to my one-shot Survive and has been posted separately (what you are reading) and also as a second chapter to the original. This work can be read separately.  
-hmeihmeh

WILL  
Those days had long been ingrained in his mind. The days when Nico would fight for him, would plunge into Tartarus for him. Now it seemed like those days were over. Nico was getting distant, connecting with people outside of his friend group. Will knew he should be proud, happy that Nico was happy. But there was no Nico to be happy for. Will knew he was reading into Nico’s absence far too much, but it was difficult not to. Not right now, on the anniversary of his mom's death. He was still stuck in the past. But he would have thought Nico would remember. Remember that he was struggling. Didn't he say he would always be there? Now nobody was and Will was left alone with another bottle of wine and an empty promise.

Blood flowed freely and Will wondered why it was so gorgeous. So human. And gods he was so messed up, but aren't we all a little messed up. And the darkness rimming the edges of his vision swelled up and the whole world went black.

NICO  
Nico tipped his head back and let the vodka blur his mind and erase his memories, his fears, his dreams. Spun around, the flashing lights, the pounding music... being lost in the crowd, in the dark. Lost in his troubles and worries and washing them away. He felt it a month ago, Will's life force dimming. Slowly.... so agonizing. There was no way he could stop it, it was too painful. And he knew it was his fault. He wasn't good enough Will Solace. Will couldn't heal him and he couldn't heal Will. They were both shattered from the inside out and there was absolutely nothing that Nico could do but step away. They just broke each other more. And maybe if he hadn't been lost he would have felt Will slipping, slipping away. 

 

Nico found Will where he found him a year ago. Leaned against the frame of the bed. Blood pooling around his familiar form. But this time there was no going back. Will's face was twisted in agony and tears still fresh on his cheeks. His light was gone now. Nico collapsed next to his lifeless form, pressed a drachma into Will's hand and his skull ring. Shaking slightly he closed his eyes and lay with Will one last time and promised Will they would meet again. When they were both a little less broken inside. They were both messed up, but everybody's a little messed up. 

Will stood before the three judges, listening to them repeat his life out. Dissect it and examine it to see if it was worthy enough. Every mistake and failure and accomplishment turned over and contemplated. Finally Minos turned to him and looking him dead in the eyes.  
"Asphodel." Was all that he said. Will was silent. His thoughts churned, burning and regret pooled. This was it. He would loose his memories, he would wonder the fields as a meaningless ghost of the past. He wondered if he could take it all back. All the agonizing apprehension and uncertainty. He had told himself that this was the end, but the hope was still there. And hope was dangerous. He clutched the skull ring around his finger, the only thing left he had of Nico di Angelo. The coin was long gone, given to Charon to get across the river Styx. But this is where it all ended. Will walked slowly to the gates of Asphodel, this was his fate all along. He pushed them open and stepped in. His mind spun with memories the agonizing ones came first. The people who died in his hands, the ones he couldn't help. He saw Nico turning away, his mother, lifeless. Kayla closing her eyes. His brothers Lee and Michael. Losing people he didn't know, names he could never ever learn because he had failed them. The agony of not telling anybody, the scorching burn of alcohol, the pain and the pleasure that was so entirely human.  
Then they were gone-blond away on the wind. Then the last gift to him, all the memories and feelings that made him human; the things that made him broken, irreversibly shattered, were gone. And he realized this was what it was like to be happy, to be truly happy, but not human anymore. This was the last gift he would receive, perfection. And he was no longer Will Solace, because half of what made him was gone. And then the memories swirled again, his mother throwing her head back and laughing. His siblings gathered around, singing and laughing. His friends, family and home. And in the midst of it all he saw Nico di Angelo. And then they were gone, and the only thing left was the fading image of Nico's smile.  
But we're all a little messed up, right?

And the silver skull ring slipped to the ground, and fell with an echoing crash

 

Thank you for reading my fourth fanfiction post.  
Sorry if it was terrible, and for the spelling errors or the grammar errors, but hey,  
"A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit"  
-Bach

Feedback in any form is appreciated.


End file.
